1- TRADITIONAL EDITING STAGES
“If one studies the entire canon of conventional editing technique, the crime most to be avoided has always been that of evident editing: the emphasized cut, drawing attention to montage as such” FILM AS A SUBVERSIVE ART - Amos Vogel
There are of course “conventions” of editing, that derive from film’s literary/dramatic history of ‘telling stories.’ Historically the grammar of traditional Hollywood editing is to create seamless transitions from shot to shot - ‘invisible’ edits to lull the audience into a comforting cinematic space where a ‘story’ can be experienced in a ‘realistic’ manner. In contrast the European model of ‘montage’ draws attention to film as a constructed space, and uses various techniques to emphasise the ‘cut’. (See 'MONTAGE')
Although artists and film-makers often work best by disrupting conventional approaches, it can be useful to be familiar with some of the conventions and then adapt them to your own process.
The ‘rough cut’
This term refers to laying down or putting together blocks/chunks/sections of footage (audio or video) – to test the initial ideas and structure of your film. This should be rough, don’t be fussy with particular sections or cuts. There may be several rough-cut stages, as you restructure, add and eliminate different sections. These initial sequences can be much more like film ‘sketches’, testing ideas. Think of them as ways of helping you see what footage really works and still excites you, and what doesn’t. The aim is to be able to watch a complete version/cut of the film to help make decisions about the overall rationale or 'arc' of the film, before working with it in detail.
2-APPROACHES TO ROUGH CUTTING
PREDETERMINED STRUCTURE –SCRIPTED FILM
Construct a complete ‘loose’ cut following the script or outline, choosing the best takes, but concentrating on getting your planned structure down quickly, even if it’s rough. Often what works in preproduction will change form, so the initial rough cuts can test the ‘narrative’ structure or outline, and then imbalances become apparent. Structural changes can follow on from this. As the desire for a narrative logic is so strong, it’s tempting to choose ‘best takes’ based primarily around the audio qualities, because audio is ‘often’ carrying the story. This can be misleading, as important subtleties in the picture may be overlooked. When choosing ‘best takes’ some editors even prefer to watch the initial rushes silently, (assuming that voice can be dubbed over at a later stage.) so that they are ‘alert’ to the picture qualities.
SYNCH-CUT For interview based work, or where the spoken voice is providing a narrative, there is the traditional documentary approach of making a “synch cut” as a first stage. Choosing all the sections of audio that you are interested in and putting them together to make a structure for your film that is directed by voice. In a sense the voice acts as a “backbone” to provide the initial structure of the film.
This may sound conventional, (but think of the layered narratives created in Agnes Varda's “Les Gleaners”). The other aspect to this as a stage of working is to help unpick or discover the themes that exist in what is being said and explore how these can be visually extended. Remember this is a first stage, so don’t bother to chop up the audio, but put down ‘blocks’ of footage to provide an overall framework
If the synch cut is through interview, visually this can look a bit daunting, as you can have a sequence of jump-cut sections of interviews. But this is where you have to remember this is a first stage, and think of it as constructing a radio play. If one is working with a lot of spoken word, it can also be very useful to have a transcript that you refer to and alter as the edit proceeds.
NARRATION OR VOICE OVER
VO can lead the visual edit first or can ‘grow’ from picture cuts, but it’s really important not to get too far without putting/testing the two together. Voice will shorten picture durations, and suddenly beautifully cut sequences may look clumsy and crowded. Be brave enough to lay down a guide voice to work with, rather than waiting until it’s all perfectly written and recorded.
3-MONTAGE
If you are not working with a narrative structure, considered and playful juxtapositions can also create the structure of the film. In a sense, creating meaningful juxtapositions is the basis of all editing, and is known as montage.
In terms of the Avant-garde and artists films, ‘montage’ introduces the idea that meaning can be created from juxtaposing distinct images and sounds.
Therefore, where there is no pre-existing narrative, it is possible to ‘discover’ the structure and intention of the film through the editing process.
If one considers ‘narrative’ beyond a linear literary sense – more like the ‘vertical’ layered narrative of a poem, then film structure starts to include ideas of rhythm, pace, themes and metaphors. For example, the films of Maya Deren, Margaret Tait and Sarah Pucill have strong visual poetic metaphorical structures, or structuralist films primarily having a rhythmic structure.
This approach also opens up the idea that your edit may be constructed with a physically ‘vertical’ structure/sense as well as a linear one. Through superimposition, multiple meanings are created by exploring the layered images and making connections between them. For example in Annabel Nicolson’s film “Slides’’.
Viewing or listening to footage as distinct sections can also help reveal connections and threads that may be hidden when viewed alongside other shots.
So it can be useful to make a sequence with your selected “sections” of footage, noting the possible relationships between different shots and sounds. This can reveal common threads and possible outlines for the film, which can ‘guide’ the edit. In “ Side Ways” my initial cuts made it clear that the overall rhythm of the film was too similar, and that actually I needed to reshoot some slower sections.
4-LOOKING AT THE ROUGH CUT
Structural changes -
Watching small sections repeatedly can be very deceptive, as it’s easy to lose track of how the film as a whole is working together. So, once there is a rough version of the complete film, it’s good to watch it straight through (even if there are gaps/holes), Preferably allow some space between completing a rough cut and viewing it, so that you’re watching it alert and fresh, (and make notes either as watching or after.)
What are you looking for in rough-cut?
Some of the questions I always ask myself:
Are there moments when my mind drifts?
This can be a clue to what sections of the film need particular attention, (moving, cutting down, shots that you’re attached to, but that aren’t working)
What’s the first moment that engages you, where the film feels like it actually ‘starts’?
Is this coming too late? Is the front of the film too ‘loose’ or slow?
What shots/audio/sections work best?
Are they in the best place, so that enough is made of them? Is the tension/ build up helping them or are they too hidden? Placing these shots/sections well can really guide the edit, and sometimes it is even helpful to build the structure around these shots/sections.
How is the timing and pacing working, what’s happening in each ‘quarter ‘of the film?
It can be useful to mentally divide the film into four, and then questions of timing and pacing can be considered across the whole film, and within each ‘quarter’. This can aid the placing of key moments/shots, and also assist with adjusting timings, Deciding on the duration of the film may also be a question at this stage. Rough cut durations should be in the ‘region’ of your final duration i.e. a 10 min film shouldn’t have a 30 min rough cut. It probably means there’s two films there! Walter Murch’s conventional ratio is “an assembly should be no more than thirty percent over the ideal running length of the film”
Be brave with ‘favourite’ shots/sections
Shots/sections that you’re attached to, but that aren’t necessarily helping the rest of the film. Try a cut without them.
You can recognise these shots as sections that you keep re-cutting but which still don’t work.
Responding to these sorts of questions and making notes, can help make decisions about the overall ‘shape’ of the film.
Sometimes drastic structural changes are needed when ideas you imagined working suddenly don’t, but other ideas occur in the process. So don’t be afraid to make changes and try different approaches. For me, there is a turning point when I know what I want the film to do. This doesn’t always mean that it will definitely work, but it often gives the edit a direction and focus that can be worked with.
5-WORKING INTO THE ROUGH CUT/SEQUENCE
Once you’ve reached the turning point in your rough cut, and you know what the film’s direction is, the process shifts. Rather than returning to the initial rushes, work becomes more focussed on editing within the rough cut itself. The focus is to establish the rhythm of the film, paying progressive attention to the fine details.
At this stage, it is easy to get caught up in small sections of the film and lose a sense of the whole framework. Walter Murch gives an needlework analogy, as if the film is a huge tapestry, and making tiny stitches in one place it will distort the whole thing.
The guidelines below give an order of working, and some questions to be considered
Start at the beginning
It can be misleading to keep viewing a loose ‘start’ to the film. Establish the rhythm of the beginning of the film, paying particular attention to the first few shots. This will set you on the right track for the rest of the film.
Look at the transitions from section to section. As films are often constructed in blocks initially, sections may have been viewed and worked on separately. Look at how separate sections are starting to work together. This can help make a cohesive rhythm throughout the film.
Extras
Be strict about excess shots. Early cuts (when you’re still trying to choose from different takes) will often use more shots than are needed. This is the stage to simplify and be firm about getting rid of any weak shots. Generally they will do more damage staying in the film than if they are removed.
Finding space
Early cuts are often very dense versions of the film, as all the initial ideas and possibilities are there. Throughout the editing process, there occurs a gradual ‘stripping away’ as the focus of the film becomes clearer. Key moments become apparent (a particular shot, sound, line of dialogue.) Part of finding a rhythm is for these moments to be emphasised by being in the best place within the film.
Early dense cuts may also lack space/points of stillness, because the focus has been on discovering the concept of the film. Now is the time to really work cohesively with all aspects of the image and sound, considering how the durations of shots are affecting the pace and rhythm across and within the whole film.
How long a shot is held can be a very intuitive process, and this is when you need to start responding to the film, rather than imposing yourself on it.
“I have to be very relaxed, very close to myself, so that I can feel each shot. I’d be sitting next to my editor, watching a shot, and when I feel that the shot had gone on for just the right length, so that something came through, but not too much, I’d say “there!” Chantal Ackerman
(A Critical Cinema 4 Interviews with Independent Filmmakers)
The way that the film is cut determines it’s pace, rhythm and how the film is read.
RHYTHM
The ‘musical beat’ of a film – created visually and sonically. For example in Margaret Tait’s film ‘Hugh Macdiarmid: A Portrait’ is edited to reflect the rhythm of Macdiarmid’s poetry. This is through the lyrical visual rhythm of the edits.
PACE
The ‘timing’ of a film. Pace can refer to the internal movement within a single shot, the duration of the shot within the film, and how a group of shots are edited together.
ARC OF THE FILM
The relationship between key ‘moments’ or ‘actions’ across the whole film. This could be in a completely abstract sense. For example, the ‘arc’ in structuralist film may refer to a build up of tension created by increasingly rapid cutting.
Of course all of these terms are inter-related. Both rhythm and pace can apply across the structure of the whole film, across a single cut, or even to the internal rhythm and pace within a single shot or sound. Creating the ‘arc’ of the film is achieved by paying attention to the rhythm and the pace.
6-DIFFERENT TYPES OF EDITING
FINDING THE RHYTHM
Different types of edits will create very different rhythmic structures.
Analyzing a film through it’s editing structure is one methodology practised in film theory, sometimes termed ‘the visual language of film’. Different types of edit are recognised and categorised. Listed below are some of the most frequently used terms.
Plastic cut
This is where movement within the frame is carried across a cut.
As our eyes are naturally attracted to movement, two separate shots will cut together more seamlessly if movement from one shot is picked up in the next. The eye/brains desire for logic encourages us to read/perceive the film as ‘continuous.’ Beautiful rhythms are often created through this form of cutting as movement (whether of camera, object, or subject) is used to make forms flow into each other.
In Jayne Parker’s film “K” the sequence of hands and arm movements becomes a choreographed dance through the editing. ((In George Barber’s film “Walking off court” the cameras movement across an urban landscape creates a circular rhythm reflecting the film’s narrative.))
Direct cut
The real timeframe of a scene is compressed through the editing. This is commonly used in conventional films. For example a man walks up the stairs and then appears in a room. In ‘film time’ the audience logically connects the stairs to the room, and even places them in same house. The artist Stuart Croft uses direct cuts in his film installation “Century City” where his central character is pacing from room to room in a film studio. Through fast cutting different camera angles together the audience perception of the geography of the film studio is constantly distorted, and adds to the tension of the film.
Match cut
Two disparate scenes that are linked by the repetition of an action. For example a woman pours a drink, and in the next scene in a clearly different location, a man takes a drink. So a connection is made between the two different spaces, simply by the common action of pouring a drink.
Flash cutting
Very short shots that succeed each other quickly, often used to create a dynamic climax. Used creatively by John Smith in Worst Case Scenariowhere a sequence of still photographs are edited together with different durations. The rapid cutting creating the illusion of movement and small gestures become exaggerated.
Intercutting
Creating a narrative by cutting between two different scenes/locations. For example, in the film Salamanderby Tanya Syed, action is intercut between the interior of a fast food takeaway, and the exterior nocturnal cityscape.
Jump cuts
A fixed shot where material has been removed, so any movement within the shot is exaggerated at the cuts. This is used as a device to compress ‘dead’ time, or as a way of ‘telling’ the audience that material has been removed (e.g. in interviews) Since the French New Wave, it has also been encorporated into the mainstream as a stylistic device.
Most artist’s films do not fit neatly into these categories, as much work investigates existing conventions. For example William Raban’s film Autumn Scenes appears to be jump cut together, as the sequence looks like a succession of fixed shots with a ‘jump’ happening at each cut. However, the continuity of a man walking indicates that things are not as they initially appear, and we realise that Raban is using the conventions of editing to expose the ‘illusion’ of continuity in film.
7-AUDIO
“We gestate in Sound, and are born into Sight Cinema gestated in Sight, and was born into Sound” AUDIO-VISION sound on screen - Walter `murch
At what stage do you include audio in your edit?
Without supporting or creating an image/audio hierarchy, the relationship between sound and image can lead you astray in subtle ways. There is of course the Stan Brakhage approach (“I don’t see any more reason for film to have sound than for a painting to have sound. ((It’s just a habit of history that we have the possibility to use it.”)) Or your film may be audio led, but without dictating an image/sound hierarchy, the truism is that each will alter the way the other is read. They can exist separately, but as soon as you put sound to picture or picture to sound, a new piece/work is created. So considering them alongside each other early on in the editing process is recommended/important.
Also considering the space that sound can create in film, can open up your possibilities and be very exciting. An exercise I was given along time ago was to list all the sounds I could hear by sitting outside for 10 minutes. There were over 30 sounds listed, and this alerted me to the huge variety of different textures in something that’s is commonly termed a basic “atmos track”.
In Nina Danino’s film Temenos, the ‘landscapes’ created through the layered use of sound, takes the audience on different journeys throughout the film. There are also many examples of artists who have explored the conceptual and material relationship between image and sound. For example Lis Rhodes film Dresden Dynamo, Guy Sherwin films Dot Cycleand Soundtrack.
‘Film sound’ is also explored within film theory. The film theorist Michael Chion has developed whole new set of terms (audio logovisual poetics.) and also discusses the use of the “off-screen” voice and sound. The filmmaker Peter Kulbeka has also written and discussed the concept of synch sound and it’s relationship to film. Without making huge generalizations, or a set of “rules” to work by, here are a few ‘conventional’ guides in the image audio relationship that could be useful to work with, or to disrupt!
Picture durations will commonly be shortened by the addition of audio, especially with the addition of voice. Even something as seemingly straightforward as a wide static landscape shot, will appear to sit longer with an atmos track. (Think of James Benning’s wonderful use of off-screen sound that acts as an introduction to elements viewed later in “Ten Skies”) Synch isn’t necessarily best….It can seem an “easy” way of editing, (especially with the use of music), and especially when viewing waveforms in digital editing software for the first time. But always try and be sensitive to the internal rhythms of the sound and picture.
Be aware of “wallpaper” images and sound. In non-narrative film, there is a danger of music as audio wallpaper, or similarly of images as visual wallpaper. A visual montage can appear to work by a piece of music being ‘added’… Beware of using music to “stick” images together. Editing rhythm should and can work independently e.g.The example used in section 8 of drama being edited silently to maintain awareness of picture rhythms.
Be sensitive to how you are listening to your audio. Don’t just edit on headphones, it’s a very different sound space to listening to audio in a space. Try and regularly monitor your audio on a set of decent speakers.
7-FOOTAGE FATIGUE
WHEN IS IT FINISHED?
How long is a piece of film? Intention and achieving
As mentioned at the beginning of the tour, there are infinite ways that the same material can be edited together. So it can be very difficult to know when to stop working and when a film is actually finished. The artist Joseph Cornell film’s were edited by his assistant, the filmmaker Larry Jordan. Cornell’s only guidance as to when a film was finished was “I think we can live with that ..” , or “I don’t much like that..” So, it really can be a very intuitive decision.
There is the temptation to put every idea that has occurred in the editing process, into the same film. In fact some of these ideas may be better realised in a new film, or perhaps there is more than one film in your material. It is also worth remembering that spending longer isn’t necessarily better. Films can be ‘over-cut’. This usually occurs when a filmmaker is too close to the film. The rationale for the editing decisions may have got lost, and edits can begin to look self-conscious and more like stylistic devices. This is the time to step back, stop working on the fine detail and focus on the overall intention of the film. View the complete film and return to the early question ‘’does it do what I intended?’’ Are changes becoming arbitary?
Films are often ‘finished’ because of a fixed deadline, or booked access to equipment. Artists film’s may be a little more flexible, with no specific screening outcome initially. Margaret Tait took many years to edit some of her films - viewing and fine cutting until she felt the rhythm was perfectly balanced. However, sometimes it can be useful to create a self-imposed ‘deadline’, (even if this gets shifted), to help give the edit a structure.
The guidelines below consider how to approach the end stages of an edit, and how to judge when to stop fiddling
Feedback
It can be a delicate area to judge at what stage feedback is really useful. As early rough cuts could be more like sketches of different ideas when the film is not really /hasn’t yet found its form. Sometimes showing others at this early stage can inhibit experimentation, and take the film off on someone else’s thought processes. However showing others at key stages during the edit can be very helpful, as it can stop you reworking the same areas, and help move the film forward.
Turning point
When you’ve decided what you think the film is ‘about’, it is a good moment to show someone else, as even if they are still viewing a rough cut, their feedback can test the ‘concept’ of the film, and whether key ideas are coming through.
Rhythm of film
This could be done before the fine-cutting (see below) but where overall timings are worked on. Test the ‘shape’ of the film; are there sections that are crushed or go to quickly, or too slowly? Is the timing of shots accurate? Is there space in the film to absorb information? Are there any problematic shots or sounds?
Fine-cutting
Are there any particular cuts that jump out or jar? Watching repeated sections may make you immune to problems so it’s very good to show someone else completely fresh to the project.
Viewings
These guidelines apply whether watching on your own or with others Watch the complete film when awake and alert (not at the end of a days editing) Play the film all the way through, with no interruptions or explanations once film has started. Sit away from the screen (one tends to get used to working very close when editing) Try and view the film on a larger monitor or projected, and hear the audio through speakers (not headphones)
Don’t try and make extensive notes during a viewing – this is distracting. Make very brief notes as reminders or pointers while watching, and then these can be expanded on at the end of the viewing.
How to fine cut the picture and audio
Fine-cutting is very intensive, as one is making frame by frame adjustments. It’s easy to get caught up in the fine detail of particular sections, and lose track of how small changes are affecting the rest of the film.
I recommend viewing the film and making a list of all the cuts to be adjusted. Don’t keep working on the same section repeatedly. Make adjustments and move on. When you have completed the list, have a break and view the film again to see what still needs work. You may be surprised at what else you now notice. Sometimes you only spot tiny details, once you are not ‘blinded’ by other changes that have been made.
Try not to view on a small screen as this can be very deceptive and result in over-cut films.
Delivery, working with others – passing it on…
If the project is being passed on to someone else (e.g for sound mix, picture grade, even for DVD copies) it may need to be prepared in a specific way (e.g. track laying for audio.) Have these discussions early on, and leave enough time to prepare the project properly. Its best to always try and test any work-flow where projects are going through different stages. This will avoid confusion and mistakes at the end of the project when approaching deadlines.
Be cautious and always keep a careful record of what material you pass to others (e.g. original master tapes, sound recordings, still images etc.) It’s very easy for material to get lost especially if it is poorly labelled. If working digitally, keep regular backups of the project file onto CD’s.
When the film is completed, keep an archive copy for yourself (film print or video tape) and have separate screening copies made for distribution.
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